Dreams Only Lie
by Hinn-Raven
Summary: Bart has fixed the future, but some members of the Team still dream of the world that was. Future-fic.
1. Nightwing

_Nightwing tasted blood as he lay on the ground of the warehouse. "What's the matter, Dick?" The black-haired figure mocked him, raising his gun. "Fight gone out of you already?"_

_"Jason," Dick started, trying to get to his feet, but the stab of pain from the bullet buried in his left thigh prevented him from getting up. "Jason, _please_."_

_"Too late for that," Jason pointed out, fingering the white stripe in his hair from the Lazarus Pit. "Always too late for me, isn't it?"_

_"It's never—" Dick began._

_"What about him though?" Jason asked suddenly, pointing to Tim's unconscious form on the ground nearby. "Do you think it's too late for him? Too late for the replacement?" _

_"Jason, leave him out of this!" Dick pleaded. "Jason, leave him alone!"_

_"Everyone was too late to save me," Jason said, aiming his gun at Tim. "Do you think you'll be able to save this one?"_

_Dick forced himself to his feet, and lunged at Jason. Jason laughed and dodged, firing another bullet at Dick. Dick cried out in pain as that bullet went through his other leg, sending him to the floor. "Jason…" he hissed. "Please."_

_Jason glared at him, raising an eyebrow. "Fine then," Jason said, aiming the gun at Dick instead. "Let's see if he actually will avenge _you_." _

_The gun went off again. _

"Dick? Wake up!" Someone shook his shoulder, dragging Dick out of his dreams. "Come on Dick-face, we're going patrolling!"

"Wha?" Dick said, voice thick with sleep.

"I _said_," Jason Todd said, looking at his older brother with amused skepticism, "That we're going patrolling. Timmy's off with the Team, so that means I get to be Robin for Gotham tonight."

Dick reached up and grabbed Jason, pulling his little brother into a tight hug.

"Gah! Dick, let me go!" Jason flailed in Nightwing's tight grip. "What the hell?"

"I dreamed we lost you again," Dick admitted.

"Ah, c'mon," Jason scoffed, but going limp in Dick's tight hug. "Even I'm not that dumb."

"You're not _dumb_, Little Wing," Dick reprimanded, ruffling Jason's hair, avoiding the white Lazarus strip.

"If I went and got myself killed again, I must be," Jason said, pausing before hugging Dick back. Dick didn't correct Jason. "Now come on! The badguys aren't going to catch themselves!"

"Meet you down in the Cave in five," Dick responded, finally letting go of Jason. Jason grinned, and left Dick's room.

He glanced at the photograph beside his bed, which showed Jason, Tim, and himself roughhousing on the couch, three weeks after they had rescued Jason, fresh from the Lazarus Pit. He swallowed the small lump in his throat, wondering what might have happened to Jason if they hadn't received a tip off from someone in the League of Shadows about Ra's al Ghul's resurrection plans for the second Robin. He pushed that thought away, and grabbed his Nightwing costume.

His family was together again, and stronger than ever.

He grabbed his phone, and typed a quick text to Tim. _Going patrolling with R2. See you tomorrow! -N_

His phone buzzed almost right away with Tim's response. _Mission going well. Expect to be back at MJ in one hour. See you tomorrow. Say hi to R2 for me. -R1._


	2. Batgirl

**A/N: Thanks guys for the lovely reviews! Anyways, here's the next chapter! **

**Disclaimer: These characters are property of DC Cousins, not me. Sorry if you thought otherwise.**

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_Babs dreamed of one moment. Over and over and over again. _

_She opens the door, still talking to her dad in the next room. "Hello, Miss Gordon!" says the voice on the other side, and she freezes. It's the Joker. _

_The bullet goes off, and Babs is aware of herself falling to the ground, unable to feel anything below her waist. Something is very, very wrong. _

_She can't move her legs. _

_The Joker walks over her, going for her dad now. "Dad!" she screams, wondering what the monster is going to do to her father. _

_"Barbara!" _

Babs woke up, shivering. She sat up in bed, wrapping her arms around herself. She rolled over, and got out of bed, just to prove to that stupid dream that she could still walk. It was just a nightmare. It didn't mean anything.

She walked into the kitchen of the apartment she shared with her dad, and flicked the switch on the electric kettle.

Her father was standing in the kitchen, looking through the fridge for the leftovers that she had put in there for him that night. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hey Dad!"

"Hey kiddo," he said, grinning at her tiredly. "Did I wake you up?"

"No," she said truthfully. "I woke up on my own. Do you want some tea?"

"Sure thing," James Gordon said, smiling at his daughter. Babs smiled back, and went to get the mugs.

"Rough night?" She asked, glad that she had beaten him home from her patrol with Dick this time. He was probably very suspicious by now.

"Not too bad," he said, removing the tinfoil from the plate of meatloaf that she had made earlier that evening. "Batman dropped off a lead though, so I'll probably be up all night tomorrow. Do you think you could arrange to be somewhere? I hate leaving you here all alone all night."

Babs nodded, wondering what Bruce had tipped her dad off about. Black Mask was doing another smuggling operation down by the docks, maybe that was it. "Sure thing. It's been ages since I've gone to Artemis's place." Luckily for her, her dad wasn't aware that Artemis's place was in a different state. She didn't want to have to explain about zeta-stations to him.

"Good," James said, smiling as he pushed the appropriate buttons on the microwave. "I know it's silly, but I worry."

"It's not silly," Babs told him, smiling. "I worry about you too."

He smiled, and kissed her forehead, fetching his food from the microwave afterwards.

Her dad sat down at their small table, and Babs sat down across from him, clutching her mug of tea tightly, while her father dug into the mediocre meal that Babs had prepared.

"This is very good," he said, swallowing a mouthful.

Babs rolled her eyes. "I ate it too, Dad. I know how bad it is. You don't need to lie to make me feel better."

He chuckled quietly. "Still better than anything I can cook."

"I seem to recall that you make a pretty mean grilled cheese sandwich," Babs said, smiling as she took a sip from her tea.

"My specialty," James Gordan said, smiling back.

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the review! **


	3. Artemis

_Artemis always dreamed in fragments. Tiny little moments of a life that she would never live._

…She gripped her bow and took aim at the man who was holding her husband in a headlock, smirking like a maniac. "Who are you?"

"My name is Zoom," the man declared…

… "Mom?" Artemis cried, holding her mother's broken form tightly. "Mom, please wake up! Please!"…

… "I can't be the Flash, Artemis, I can't," Wally pleaded with her as he looked down at the costume that he carried in his hands.

"But you need to be," Artemis reminded him, voice soft…

…"WALLY!" She screamed, her voice breaking as her father held Wally tight in his grasp. Without a second thought, her arrow was loose, burying itself in her father's throat…

… "Will you look after the twins for me?" Iris asked, pale and thin with the illness. "If something happens to me. Now that Barry's gone…"

"Nothing's going to happen to you," Artemis promised, holding Iris's hand. "You're strong enough for this."…

… Zoom snapped his fingers, and Artemis screamed out in pain as she was thrown backwards, away from that monster. Her hands went to her stomach, trying to protect the twins…

… "My fault," Wally said, slumping against her. "I should have been there, I should have stopped him—" He was crying as they stood over the two little graves, which read JAIDEN AND IRIS WEST…

… "Aunty Artemis!" Don and Dawn wrapped their arms around her.

Artemis smiled at the ten year old twins, and hugged them tightly, ignoring the guilty part of her brain that wished that she was embracing her own twins. "I kept my promise Iris. I did," she whispered into their hair…

… "You need to do what needs to be done, Wally," Zoom said, gripping a civilian tightly, with a knife against the man's throat. "You need to stop 'playing nice,' and just cross the line already."

"I won't," Wally said grimly. "I made a promise. And I'm not going to break it for you, Zoom."

"You're a fool," Zoom said, shaking his head. "And you're going to force me to take further steps." He dropped the civilian to the ground, and moved towards Wally. Wally tried to run, but Zoom was faster. There was an awful noise that sounded like bone breaking as Zoom's hands grasped Wally's neck, and then Artemis's husband fell to the ground…

… "Oh, come on Artemis," Zoom mocked, smirking at her. "Do you really think you can do anything to hurt me?"

Artemis glared at him, crossbow raised. "I can try," she snarled. "You killed my husband, my children, and now you're trying to kill the kids I've sworn to protect."

"I'm only going to kill one of them," Zoom protested. "And you of course. The survivor will be the greatest hero ever. Tragedy makes a great hero, Artemis. I'd have thought you knew that."

"Doesn't mean I'm going to just let it happen," Artemis snarled, firing her crossbow.

Zoom was in front of her in instants, grabbing her throat, wrenching her crossbow out of her hand, and threw her to the ground. "Good-bye Artemis," he told her softly, smirking.

Artemis's vision was going blurry as the fake-speedster cut off her air supply. She had to move quickly. She thrust up her hand, revealing the hidden knife to Zoom, but only as she managed to sink it into his chest.

Zoom looked at her, eyes wide and red. "You're going to regret that," he hissed, thrusting his own knife into Artemis's stomach, just as he passed out next to her, and stopped breathing.

Zoom was dead…

…"Aunt Artemis?" Dawn asked softly, as the fourteen year old girl helped her cousin-by-marriage away from Zoom's body. Artemis clutched a hand over her bleeding stomach, feeling light headed already. "Are you going to be okay?"

"No honey," Artemis whispered softly. "I'm not."

"But you won, right?" Don demanded, anxious.

"I won," Artemis said quietly. "I did."

And then she fell to the ground, her eyes sinking shut…

Artemis opened her eyes. She was in her bed, in her bedroom, in her and Wally's house. Wally's arm was draped over her. She rolled over, facing her husband. Wally shifted ever so slightly, eyelids fluttering as he dreamed. She raised a hand and slowly traced his jaw line, smiling. It had all been a dream.

She pressed a kiss against Wally's cheek, and then disentangled herself from his arm as she got out of bed.

She moved silently through the halls of her house, heading towards the twins' bedroom.

The twins' bedrooms were sort of a joke for the entire Justice League. Jai and Irey were well loved by all of their honorary aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-aunts, great-uncles, and cousins, and it had become a competition between all of the heroes to see who could get the most memorabilia into their rooms. And thus Irey had a Superman bedspread, with Wonder Woman sheets, while Jai had a Batman quilt and Green Lantern sheets. An enormous action figure collection covered an entire shelf, and the walls and ceilings of the room were coated in posters, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Artemis smiled to herself as she glanced at the gigantic Flash family poster above Irey's bed, which featured Jay, Barry, Wally, and Bart, and the Arrow family one above Jai's, which had Ollie, Dinah, both Roys, Cissie, Mia, and even Artemis.

She entered the room, careful to tread lightly. They were her children, after all. She frowned as she noted that Jai had gone to sleep with his bow again. She blamed Roy for that. He was a bad influence on her son. She reached over and grabbed the bow, placing it on the floor lightly. Jai turned over in his sleep, tightly clutching the tiny little Nightwing plushie that Dick had given him.

Artemis leaned over and brushed a strand of bright red hair out of his face, pressing a kiss to his forehead as she did so. She then stepped over the Justice League chess set that Tim had given them, and did the same for Irey.

She glanced at the photographs on the dressing table, smiling as she looked at them. There was the one of her entire family—Arrows, Flashes, her mother, her sister, Lian, and the twins—the one of a delighted looking M'gann holding the two infant twins, the one of an eight year old Lian cheerfully supervising Don, Dawn, Irey and Jai in a tea party, the one of Dick, Jason, Tim, and the twins, the one of the Flash supporting a twin on each shoulder… and Artemis's personal favorite, and the newest, the one of her eager, cheerful nine-year olds trapping a squirming, protesting, furious Damian Wayne in a sandwich hug.

She left their room, careful not to trip over the rest of the twins' plushie collection— the Marvel family, Zatanna, and the Batfamily (minus Nightwing) were currently in battle against Mr. Potato Head and his evil army of Barbie Dolls, and Artemis had learned better than to disrupt her children's mighty battles of good and evil.

She closed the door behind her, and turned to face her mother.

"Artemis?" Paula Crock asked, looking at her daughter.

"Hey Mom," Artemis said, smiling. "Just couldn't sleep."

"Ah," Paula said, shoving a grey hair out of her face. "Bad dreams again?"

"Yes," Artemis admitted. "The same one."

Paula took Artemis's hand. "It's only a dream, Artemis. You shouldn't worry."

"I know," Artemis said. "But I do."

Paula pulled her daughter down for a tight hug. "Go back to bed, Artemis. I'll see you in the morning. We will _all_ be here."


End file.
